COLOMBO: It’s the fourth consecutive Sunday of a Pakistan-India cricket encounter; the only difference being that the hot and arid climate of Dubai has been replaced with the humid and rainy weather of Colombo, and of course, the gender of the players on the field.
However, the differences are starker once a person starts to peel back the surface of the women’s game in both countries.
On one hand, we have players from across the border who have opportunities like the Women’s Premier League available, where compensation reaches upwards of $400,000 for the highest-paid players.
On the other hand, barring a few players in the national side and those who make it to final rosters of a handful of cricket leagues worldwide — Pakistani domestic women cricketers’ monthly retainers were even less than the government-mandated minimum wage this year.
To say that the gulf in resources available to both teams is large would be an understatement of the century.
Furthermore, in yet another familiar scenario at the start of an ICC tournament, the Indian team is going into the encounter with a win against co-hosts Sri Lanka while Pakistan have lost to Bangladesh in their opening encounter — a side they had beaten with ease in the Qualifiers in April.
However, the Pakistan skipper was at her usual jovial best at the pre-match press conference on Saturday, seemingly putting last match’s result behind her.
Ahead of all the chatter on the issue of handshakes in men’s Asia Cup encounters from last month, she made it clear that her side’s focus was solely on cricket.
“Obviously, our main goal is to play, and when we come here, our focus is only on the game … whatever comes in the spirit of the game, we try to maintain that,” Fatima said.
She also touched upon moments of camaraderie between the two sides, like the last World Cup encounter in New Zealand, where Indian players had playfully interacted with Bismah Maroof’s newborn baby, Fatima.
The Indian skipper, Kaur, however, could not give her take as the Indian management chose to send the bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi to the pre-match presser.
When asked about the bitterness from the men’s encounters disrupting the relationships of the players here as well, Salvi never got the chance to answer as the question was deemed too political for the presser.
Pakistan’s chances of making it to the next stage might have been further hampered by Saturday’s result in Colombo — where a rained-out fixture meant both Sri Lanka and Australia shared a point each.
This would make Fatima’s aim of finishing in the top four more difficult, as the extra point that Sri Lanka got in this match could be the difference between making the cut or not.
The square, which has remained under the covers throughout the day with rain pouring down means both sides’ pacers will be rearing to go early in the innings.
Bowlers to look out for would be Pakistan’s Diana Baig, who goes into the encounter with decent bowling rhythm, and Indian off-spinner Sneh Rana who is the second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs this year.
“Everyone knows that she’s one of our best players. She’s a good bowler and also a very good fielder. So it definitely boosts our team as well,” Fatima said of Diana’s encouraging performance in the opening encounter.
Echoing her remarks after the Bangladesh loss, Fatima said the toss or conditions would not be that important as the pitch remained the same for both sides throughout.
“The pitch doesn’t matter much; all we have to do is play good cricket after assessing the conditions.”
With rain predicted for Sunday as well, there is a glimmer of hope for the Green Shirts as a washed-out encounter or one curtailed by the downpour could tip the odds in their favour.
Their record against India across 11 One-day Internationals is an unenviable one — never once winning a tie, but across T20Is, there is still a better record to boast about.
The women’s side have beaten India on three occasions in the format — with their first win in a World Cup coming back in 2012 — nine years before the men’s side achieved that feat.
Speaking about the ODI record, the Pakistani skipper said: “Records are meant to be broken, we won’t go on past histories, but will take the match on the day and try to execute our plans.”
Fatima and co. would have to channel their best in the field to add another win to that tally — and maybe the rain clouds in the Sri Lankan capital might have a silver lining for the Women in Green.
Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2025